As is generally well known, a conventional electric clothes dryer operates on 220 volts of power and therefore requires a dedicated voltage outlet. Furthermore, the need to use higher voltage increases the installation and operating costs of the clothes dryer. Due to rising energy costs, some consumers cannot afford to use a powerful clothes dryer as often as they would like while others do not have 220 volts power supply available to them.
Prior to the present invention, efforts have been made to provide a cost efficient clothes dryer. U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,680 issued to Zielewicz et al. discloses a clothes dryer that is connected to, and operates as part of, a home heating system. The clothes dryer is operatively attached to the home heating boiler in the same way as a zone thermostat, and makes a demand from the heating system in a similar fashion. When the demand is made, the clothes dryer receives heated fluid when the dryer is turned on. The dryer comprises a heat-exchanging radiator, which receives the heated fluid from the fluid flow system. The fluid-filled radiator radiates heat into a clothes-drying chamber, which forms part of a motor-driven, rotating drum. The rotating drum tumbles the clothes as heat is projected into the drying chamber, thus driving the moisture from the clothes. However, the prior art clothes dryer of U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,680 requires higher than desirable installation effort and cannot be easily moved to a different location when need arises.
Another long felt need is to provide for safe environment of using appliance, such as a clothes dryer, in a household having a small child. It is well known that small child can easily open the door and crawl inside the appliance with the door often closing behind him or her thus often causing injuries to the child and sometimes death.